A Sickening Saturday

I've never been the type of mother to drop everything to take my children to the doctor for mere sniffles. OK, that's not ENTIRELY true. When Justin was a baby, I did in fact have the "new mother" syndrome. But that passed quickly when I realized that they were writing him prescriptions that would make ME feel better.

I came to this realization when Justin was about two. I can still hear the doctor's voice as if it were yesterday, "He has a cold virus and it just needs to run its course. I can write him a prescription if that would make you feel better, but it won't take away the virus." I took him up on his offer and as I drove away from the office I thought to myself, Well now that's just ridiculous, giving him prescription medicine if it won't help him when I have dimetapp at home!

So home I went and Dimetapp has been a familiar name in our household ever since. Of course, Justin got older and no longer uses Dimetapp. Now he takes the Tylenol Sinus. Which he's been taking the better part of the week for fever and congestion. He and Hannah both, actually.


This morning, though, was a sure sign he would need to visit the doctor when he got up coughing blood.

The original plan was for me to go on to bus ministry and Bruce would take him to his doctor's appointment, but after talking to the nurse on the phone, a series of events took place that told me I, the MOTHER, needed to take him. Among such events, there was a new doctor in the office working by herself and the office was messed up saying Justin wasn't in their system. (He's been going to them since he was two, OK? That's twelve years, people!!!) Now, don't get me wrong, Bruce is a very competent father, but with all that was going on, I felt I needed to be the one to take him, so I did. After all, I knew when his fevers were, how high they'd been, what he had been taking, how long he had been coughing...you get the idea. Hannah wasn't feeling well either. Bruce was going to go to bus ministry but we both felt she needed to stay home too. We decided that I would take Justin and he would stay with Hannah and Harrison.

I wanted to panic when Justin told me he was coughing blood, but decided this could be for several reasons. He had coughed so much it could be coming from a sore throat or even his sinus drainage. I was right. It was a sore throat from coughing so much. His coughing has caused some pretty bad damage, but he'll be OK. He has a double ear infection and is on antibiotics. The antibiotics combined with the cough syrup they prescribed will have him feeling better soon. These prescriptions will have us BOTH feeling better soon.


I've always had the traditon of stopping at McDonald's for my children to get an ice cream cone any time they were sick. Today was no different. However, my not so little boy has graduated from a simple ice cream cone to a large M&M McFlurry. It felt good on his throat, I'm sure.

On a happier note, Bruce finished his project and I'll post pictures of it later.

Have a great Sunday!